Involvement of Rac1 in CXCL12-induced connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression in WI-38 cells.

<p>A, Cells were transfected with pcDNA (1 µg) or RacN17 (0.5 and 1 µg) for 24 h and then stimulated with CXCL12 (10 ng/ml) for another 2 h. Whole-cell lysates were prepared and immunodetected with specific antibodies for the CTGF or α-tubulin. Data are presented as the mean ± S.E. of three experiments. *<i>p</i><0.05, compared to CXCL12 stimulation. B, Cells were treated with CXCL12 (10 ng/ml) for 0∼10 min. Whole-cell lysates were then immunoprecipitated with PAK-1 PBD-agarose. The Rac activity assay is described in “Materials and Methods”. Rac1 and α-tubulin protein levels were determined in total lysates by a Western blot analysis as the loading control. Immunoblots are representative of three experiments with similar results.